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NETFLIX ALWAYS A STEP AHEAD

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You have to admire how the management team at Netflix (NFLX) is always finding ways to get better. Reed Hastings and company are quite a pro-active group, constantly finding ways to provide more value for their customers, unlike many of the cable companies who up until recently treated their customers like they were unworthy of their attention. Specifically, I am talking about Time Warner Cable in New York City. As millions can testify, it wasn't unusual to be put on hold for up to 40 minutes when you needed assistance. It was only when they started to fear losing business to Netflix or Verizon's FIOS, that they started to act like they gave a damn. Reed Hastings CEO of Netflix Time Warner has now become the media company that chases the tails of Verizon and Netflix. Verizon and companies such as Netflix are leapfrogging the cable companies with more exclusive content and better delivery technology (FIOS). If you think about that last statement, what else is their besides content and delivery?

Don't think for a moment that Time Warner doesn't know this-why else would they offer you a $200 gift card to sign up?

In addition, courtesy of Minyanville: ... Netflix and its rivals, like Amazon.com, Google, YouTube and Hulu, are hitting big cable where it hurts: with the younger audience. Its strategy starts with toddlers and marches on through programming for young adults, who'd rather "binge-watch" a series than tune in when it's scheduled on television. In addition to their recent DreamWorks deal, Netflix is picking up the first video rights to new films from The Walt Disney Company and its Pixar division when a current deal with cable channel Starz expires in late 2016. Yup. That means Netflix subscribers, not cable subscribers, will find out what happens to the Star Wars franchise, now that it is in Disney's hands.

To sum it up: So, here's the burning question for families with children: Would you rather park the kids in front of Nickelodeon, or just hand over your Netflix login information, given that the average cable television subscription costs about $70 per month, and a Netflix subscription costs $7.99 a month? Stock investors didn't have to overthink that one. Netflix rose more than 7% on Monday, after the deal was announced, closing at more than $229. It has risen 148% so far in 2013, making it the best performer in both the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq-100.